Dave_the_Proc

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• Commented on Crib Sheet: Glasshouse
  It's been so long since I read them that I can't remember the particulars of Pullman's style, but my particular problem with "His Dark Materials" was that the subtext didn't remain "sub" for very long. Certainly by the end of...
• Commented on "Fuck every cause that ends in murder and children crying" — Iain Banks, 1954-2013
  Consider Phlebas is perhaps the most down beat of the Culture novels, and perhaps that is what puts many off. Although the other Culture novels all contain certain dark edges (more so in some cases, anyone recall the "restricted channels"...
• Commented on Crib Sheet: Iron Sunrise
  I'd amend that to: Stormont with grown-ups, and not the current batch of still-living-in-the-17th-Century children, who have a bit of a huff and throw the toys out of the pram because someone said something a bit mean to them (or...
• Commented on Admin notice: server crash
  "tech": Tends to be used as shorthand for "technobabble". In this case, probably the only way of meaningfully summarising a complicated set of circumstances where the server ate itself in a very messy way. Refer to TVTropes at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TechnoBabble for...
• Commented on Minor hiccup
  With the vast majority if native-Irish landing squarely in the "apathy" category with regards to the British (contrary to whatever you may see in the media)....
• Commented on Minor hiccup
  In the vein of obscure computer references, I always wanted to know if Bob's middle names -- Oliver Francis -- were chosen to give him the initials BOFH as a nod to "Bastard Operator From Hell" (which works on a...
• Commented on Crib sheet: Singularity Sky
  May it also be fair to say that ultimately all palimpsests are "Statis mediated", since without Stasis the Opposition cannot exist, and therefore the Library must always come into existence? Also taking into account that Stasis has an earliest point...
• Commented on Grand Guignol Tropes
  So what happens when you open the fridge in your shared student house one day and find a severed finger? Grisly practical joke, right? But then the finger disappears and is replaced by an ear, and from there things escalate...
• Commented on PSA: Ignore the news
  I pinched the link from Stina's newsfeed on FB, I think it makes some on the money points about why we don't see lots more terrorist acts: http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/the-boston-marathon-bombing-keep-calm-and-carry-on/275014/...
• Commented on Obituaries
  Apologies. I knew I recognised the quote, but I'm on vacation (your side of the pond) and I've powered down most of my higher cognitive functions for the duration. But yes, I liked the tone of Brand's article, that no...
• Commented on Obituaries
  @147 David, I believe you have replied to me while quoting someone else (although I do agree with the thought)....
• Commented on Obituaries
  I too thought that the piece by Russell Brand was thoughtful and intelligent (like many comedians, I think he hides a fair degree of intelligence behind layers of irreverent buffoonery). I'm personally of a similar vintage to Mr Brand, and...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  The discussion of the 1900/1950/200 houses popped an idea back into my head from a while ago: Would someone who has a little knowledge of the technology behind $gadget be more amazed than someone that knows absolutely nothing about it?...
• Commented on Roko's Basilisk wants YOU
  I've got to admit that the whole "acausal trade" thing seems a bit silly to me. Since we're talking about temporally or spacially removed locations, the only items that can actually be traded are ideas, and essentially the way that...
• Commented on Roko's Basilisk wants YOU
  I do wonder if we would actually notice the emergence of an AI. If one spontaneously emerged from a ubicomp-type environment, would we just notice some odd glitches, some extra band-width, and then nothing (as the AI either boot-straps itself...
• Commented on Roko's Basilisk wants YOU
  * Ducks while Greg loads the port-side battery *...
• Commented on Roko's Basilisk wants YOU
  How can you tell the difference between an ideology and a religion? A religion will kill you for your own good, an ideology will kill you for the greater good....
• Commented on Roko's Basilisk wants YOU
  I went and read the article when Charlie tweeted it the other day. It made me sad, and also made me giggle, and finally it just amazed me as yet another fresh example of how we humans can divide our...
• Commented on The jet lag game
  In about 5 weeks I am travelling from the UK to US east-coast for a two-week holiday. Nothing I haven't doen several times before, nothing I don't have a handle on how to cope with. But this time -- just...
• Commented on The World Shrinks Under The Weight of Madness
  "And when everyone's special ... no one is." As much as we're supposed to be rooting for the "Supers", did anyone else feel that this was just one of many subtle jibes at the super-hero genre (and its implied assumptions)...
• Commented on Political failure modes and the beige dictatorship
  I do rather enjoy those posts when someone says: "You are an idiot and I refuse to spend any more time discussing this with you, now here's my big long explanation of why I won't discuss it further."...
• Commented on Political failure modes and the beige dictatorship
  He does rather undercut the serious points in his long and detailed rebuttal by opening with some back handed compliments of Charlie's writing, and something of a mild ad hominem. It does leave the rest of the article smelling slightly...
• Commented on This explains everything
  Aaaah! I think you just nuked my productivity for the afternoon from orbit (possibly with a cancer-causing NASA death-ray)!...
• Commented on CREATe: a trade fiction author's perspective
  Hm. Good point....
• Commented on CREATe: a trade fiction author's perspective
  Interesting question, Greg. I'm going to call it synchronicity rather than serendipity -- the CREATe conference may have triggered the article; I wonder if you could analyse articles in general news outlets and find an uptick on the topic after...
• Commented on CREATe: a trade fiction author's perspective
  To be honest, this sounds much closer to vanity-publishing than to self-publishing (reference to paying for the book to be printed, not "breaking even", wanting the finished book to "look good"). I would say that you are very right to...
• Commented on Press release
  Nothing empirical, but on the anecdotal side again, my experience has been that a car seldom used and then only for long trips can often need a more thorough (though not necessarily more frequent) servicing than one that is used...
• Commented on Press release
  Did the mechanic make that reverse-whistle-intake-of-breath-this-is-going-to-COST-A-LOT noise before saying that something in the gear box is broken; or is he saving that for tomorrow? Unfortunately gear boxes tend to the expensive no matter what is wrong, since there's usually no...
• Commented on Press release
  Yes. Sadly it is. (Speaking as one who learnt the hard way about the relative advantages of stumping up for RAC cover -- stuck in a car with fractious children, stranded on a motorway shoulder on a cold wet April...
• Commented on Press release
  Commiserations on the car, and apologies for the mistimed attempt at humour! I do hope Féorag is not stranded at the roadside somewhere, and the repairs don't take too big a bite out of the latest advance!...